The Brothers Winchester
by Scealai
Summary: Once upon a time there were two brothers, Dean and Sammy, who lost their mother in a fire and their father to grief. Dean looked after Sammy the best he could, making sure that no one would ever split them up. Then Sammy grew up into Sam and he left all


**Author**: Scealai  
**Rating**: R for language and violence  
**Spoilers**: Season One of 'Supernatural' and the movie 'The Brothers Grimm'  
**Summary**: AU. Sam and Dean Winchester have had a rough life. After their mother died in a mysterious fire, their father drown his grief in alcohol and claims that a demon killed her. To get by, Dean became a grifter, scamming people by pretending to a ghost hunter. Sam escapes the life, until his girlfriend is killed in the same way as his mother. His quest to prove the existence of the demon leads him and his brother to a place where the things they thought they made up are real. Based on 'The Brothers Grimm' movie.**  
Disclaimer**: The characters in 'Supernatural' belong to Kripke Enterprises, Wonderland, and the WB. The movie 'The Brothers Grimm' is the property of Alliance Atlantis,  
Dimension Films, and MGM.

**Author's Note**: I'm not sure about this story, so I thought that I would post the prologue to see what kind of reaction it would get. I know it's not a lot of detail, but I want to know if the tone is right. Feedback is welcome and would be most appreciated.

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Prologue

When Dean Winchester was four years old the best stories began with 'Once upon a time.' His mother would sit in the rocking chair by the window in the nursery with Dean on one knee and baby Sammy propped up on the other. The sun lit a golden halo in her hair and she smelled like fresh air and raspberries. Her soft voice was comforting and melodic as she began the story, "Once upon a time there were two brothers, Dean and Sammy." That was always the beginning. The middle was different each time, unless Dean begged for a specific story. Sometimes Dean and Sammy fought dragons, sometimes they sailed with pirates, and sometimes they saved beautiful princesses from evil knights. Much to Dean's disgust, his mother always insisted that the beautiful princesses needed to be kissed before the story could end. He didn't want to kiss no princess and he was pretty sure Sammy felt the same, besides there was no way they were more beautiful than his Mommy and she was the only girl he kissed. His mother would just laugh and ruffle his hair and promise to remind him that he felt that way when he was older and all he wanted to do was kiss girls. Then she would end the story and they always ended in 'happily ever after.'

When Dean Winchester was four years old the fairytales ended. One night his world exploded in screams and flames and his mother was gone forever. All he had left was a baby brother and a broken father. Sammy cried and Daddy cried and Dean didn't know what to do. Daddy started drinking awful smelly stuff and yelling about a demon taking his Mommy away from them. Dean didn't like that story - it was scary and confusing - so he never told it to Sammy. Instead he tried to remember the stories Mommy used to tell them and would tell them to Sammy as best he could.

Dean was good at telling stories. As he grew older, he used that talent to take care of his little brother. He told nice old ladies stories about how he was collecting for different charities so he could buy Sammy new clothes or new shoes or school supplies or food. He told teachers and concerned neighbours their father was a great dad and he was doing his best now that their mother had died and they were on their own. That particular story was good for a pot of stew and biscuits from Mrs. Anderson down the street, she was always impressed when Dean would return her pot all washed up. Sometimes he felt bad about fooling people, but it kept Sammy fed and happy and he decided that if people were stupid enough to believe him than that was their fault.

Once upon a time there were two brothers, Dean and Sammy, who lost their mother in a fire and their father to grief. Dean looked after Sammy the best he could, making sure that no one would ever split them up. Then Sammy grew up into Sam and he left all on his own. And Dean learned again that there was no such thing as happily ever after.

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Sam Winchester had a fairytale life. He wasn't a prince - just a twenty-two year old college student hoping to get into law school - and he didn't live in a castle - just a one-bedroom apartment off campus - but he did have his princess. Jessica. She was beautiful with her long, curly blonde hair, laughing blue eyes, and full pouty lips. She was also smart, funny, and the nicest girl Sam had ever met. She loved him. She loved him despite his drunken father who liked to mumble about a demon murdering the love of his life to the bottom of a whiskey glass. Not that Jessica had ever met his father or even knew that he claimed that a demon had murdered his wife when Sam was a baby. She loved him despite the fact that he refused to talk about his older brother, who never visited yet sent a check in the mail every month that more than covered their rent.

And because of all that, Sam loved her. Jessica was the happily ever after that Dean had always left out of the fairytales he would tell Sam when they were kids and he had tucked his younger brother in at night. Dean had always begun the stories with 'Once upon a time' and they had been full of adventure, but he never ended them with 'happily ever after.' He never really ended them properly at all, when the adventure was finished Dean just gave Sam a kiss on the forehead and said goodnight. Once Sam had learned how to read, he had corrected Dean - telling him that stories ended in happily ever after. Dean told him that it was a lie, that happy didn't last that long. Sam had accepted that, even though it had made him sad, because Dean was his big brother and he knew everything. Now that he was older, he knew that Dean had been wrong. Sam was happy with Jessica and it would last forever after.

TBC


End file.
